RIYADH // Saudi Arabia’s top clerics have declared an Islam-inspired cartoon series that has gained popularity around the world as a “work of the devil” that Muslims should not watch.
The television version of superhero comic book series The 99 is being aired by the Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC3, which is based in Dubai.
But in a religious decree carried by Saudi websites on Monday, the clerics ruled the series blasphemous because the superheroes of its title are based on the 99 attributes ascribed to Allah in the Koran.
“The 99 is a work of the devil that should be condemned and forbidden in respect to Allah’s names and attributes,” the clerics, led by the kingdom’s mufti, Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, said.
The original comic strip version, first released in 2006, had already run into opposition from Muslim hardliners not only in Saudi Arabia but also in neighbouring Kuwait, where it was created and produced by a media executive, Nayef Al Matawa.
The comics — produced in English as well as Arabic — won praise however from Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, and the US President Barack Obama for their message of moderation and cultural dialogue.
They have been sold around the world and have also spawned a merchandise range and a theme park in Kuwait as well as the Arabic-language television series.
* Agence France-Presse
